The present invention relates to cameras having viewfinders and flash units on their front covers.
Related to camera flash units, some technologies have been proposed in recent years that allow to make flash units compact and change the flash illumination angle. For example, the flash unit disclosed in a Japanese Patent Application, KOKAI Publication No. 63-257735, has a structure that enables to control the flash illumination angle and light distribution by moving a xenon flash lamp tube, which is a midget light bulb mounted in the flash illumination unit, back and forth along the optical axis inside a reflector.
In most of the architectures related to cameras incorporating relatively compact flash units, as exemplified by the above invention, the flash window is located right above or right beside the viewfinder.
Some of the lens shutter cameras have scaling functions in their view finders with which users can observe the target with a scale equal to that used upon exposure, when they zoom in or out on the target in taking pictures.
In those prior art cameras, the flash light comes out from an internal flash unit through a dedicated flash window. This flash window, in many cases, is separately located apart from the viewfinder, and the flash window and the viewfinder are laid out adjacent to each other on the front cover.
However, in order to use a flash unit upon zooming in or out on a subject, an illumination angle adjusting mechanism specifically designed for the flash unit must be added that works in accordance with the focal length that has been set on each shooting scene. Further, if a flash unit is incorporated in a camera, a dedicated opening for the flash unit (namely, flash window) should be mounted on the front cover of the camera. However, it becomes difficult to provide compact cameras because the flash window becomes large along with increase in size of narrow xenon lamp tubes and accordingly the front cover becomes large, if such a large flash window is located right above or right beside the viewfinder.
Components layout on the front cover of a camera affects the convenience and look of the camera. In addition to the layout of the front lens, the viewfinder and the flash window influence the size and impression of the camera as well.
In order to make cameras further compact than ever, the layout of the flash window and the viewfinder should be designed carefully.
Also in recent years, there is the need for cameras that allow the user to recognize the moment the shot is completed when the user pushes the release button down.
It is, therefore, the object of the present invention to provide a camera that permits the user to know the moment of release operation and presents a small size with an improved layout of the finder and the flash unit illuminating flash light from the viewfinder unit.